Meet Brother Pelto at the Farmers Market

Nov 16, 2018 –By: Megan Allen
For Lisa Pelto, Lincoln/Greater Nebraska, books have always been a part of her life.

From growing up with a book in her hands 24/7, to enjoying reading with her mother, to recently publishing her very own children's book, Meet Me at the Farmers Market, she has always had a passion for stories and imagination.

President of Concierge Marketing, Inc., Lisa knows a thing or two about publishing books. After spending 15 years in corporate and non-profit publishing, she began freelance work on the side with clients who wanted to become independent publishers. "I loved the passion and energy of the authors and how each one wanted to tell the story of how they changed the world, how the world changed them, or how they invented their own world," says Pelto.

And soon after... the world changed for Lisa too. "In 2004, one of my clients proposed I make a full-time go of it and said she would be my first official customer. I decided to do some research to see if it could be a reality," says Lisa. "Then I took the leap and opened my publishing business with the support of my husband and business partner, Eric. I thought most of my clients would probably come from outside of my local area, but 70 percent are from Nebraska and 30 percent are from around the world."

Since then, life has remained busy for Lisa. Each day, it's her job to solve the following questions:

Would private publishing be right for this client? Are the client or publisher equipped to handle national marketing and distributing and can they support it with time and money (in that order?)

Is there a wide market (or tiny niche) for the book? Can the buyers in that niche be identified and marketed to?

She also provides a complete menu of services for authors, from coming up with a concept or book idea, to querying traditional publishers. She also helps clients set up and run their own publishing houses, if that's their goal. Lisa's clients consist of writers, editors, artists, illustrators, book designers, proofers, industry compliance specialists, distribution and sales experts, online marketing professionals and marketing publicity experts. "If it has to do with an author and a book - we do it," she says.

After many years helping others with their books, Pelto decided it was finally time to write one of her own. "In my case, I am around books and authors all of the time," she says. "I wrote this book in response to kids visiting my booth at the Farmers Market where I sell other authors' books. I thought, 'Why don't I do this?' I decided to use the methods that I teach in my class at the local community college and sat down the day I thought of the premise." The rest, as they say, was history, and Meet Me at the Farmers Market was born. To really make sure she thought of everything, Lisa contacted teachers from all parts of the country to review the manuscript and make sure the words were appropriate for the three to seven year old range and nothing was too geographically specific. "While I wrote the book in three hours," she explains, "the editing process was three times that."

One of her favorite parts about the book writing process was working with an illustrator to bring the magic to life. "I love watercolor and the fluidity it creates," she explains. "I had worked with Paula S. Wallace on many other books and found she was an absolute joy. She is very intuitive. My goal was to give her a loose idea of what I envisioned for each two-page spread and let her be an artist."

Lisa has been involved with many Fraternity functions over the years and enjoys being involved with her two daughters: Great Plains RVP Ellie Godwin and Monica Pelto, Nebraska-Omaha. "The organization welcomed me without hesitation," Lisa recalls. "I am astounded when I see how much appreciation, gratitude, respect and help is shared among brothers and I'm very honored to be a part of it and do have both of my girls enjoy the benefits of being brothers (and sisters)!"

In addition to having fraternal ties with her children, Lisa also enjoys working with daughter Ellie, who is the Marketing Director at Lisa's Concierge Marketing, Inc.

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Delta Sigma Pi is the nation's largest and first co-ed professional business fraternity that encourages personal and professional development of men and women pursuing careers in business through professional, service, scholastic and social events.